Maybe.
Mom tended to be more of a romantic, but after Jason’s minor tabloid scandal, she thought I was crazy to even consider staying with him, let alone going on his tour and selling my house to move in with him. She’d agreed to meet him, but was so unenthusiastic I opted out.
Jason’s family had embraced me so much I think it killed him to know how mine felt.
Not having anyone be as happy about this as I was sucked.
We found a bench in the shade, walking in a heavy silence until we got there. Kristen parked the stroller and handed Oliver his sippy cup before sitting to face me.
I dove in. “Before you even start, I know it’s only been a few weeks, and I know—”
“I’m glad you’re going.”
It took me a few moments to process what she’d said.
“You…you are?”
“Yes. And I’m glad you’re selling the house. You should have done that a long time ago.”
I blinked at her. “You’re not upset that I’ll be gone so long? You don’t think I’m crazy?”
“Sloan, there are some things I need to say to you.”
She pushed her hair behind her ear and licked her lips. It took her a while to begin. She seemed at a loss for words. Kristen was never at a loss for words.
“I know that you’ll be away for a long time. But I’ve gone longer without seeing you.” She paused for a long beat. “These last two years, the Sloan I grew up with has been missing. I was afraid she was buried at Forest Lawn with Brandon and I was never going to see her again. Then you decided to live, and you know what? My Sloan came back.” She shook her head. “I missed my friend. And if I thought that you were only okay because you have a man in your life again, I’d tell you not to go. But I think you have a man in your life because you’re okay. I don’t think this is some rebound thing. I think what you two have is real. And goddamn it, if he wants you to go on his tour, go. Because I haven’t seen you this fucking happy in a very long time.”
The tears were falling before I even knew they were coming. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“I’m glad he finally figured out how bad it would suck if he went without you. Honestly, Josh and I were worried about what might happen when he left, and we were wondering what was taking his ass so long to ask.”
“Seriously? You guys talked about it?”
“We’re your emergency response team. Of course we talked about it. Did drills and everything.”
I laughed out of relief and hugged her. This made it real. It gave it validation to have her support this—both of them, her and Josh. They saw it too, what I had with Jason.
“Sloan, it makes me so happy to see you make these choices. Go, have adventures, fall more in love, shake a tambourine, be a fucking groupie and say cliché shit like, ‘I’m with the band.’”
I snorted, wiping at my tears.
“I’ll be here when you get back. And so will you. Finally.”
* * *
Kristen and I walked for forty-five minutes, talking about the tour and Oliver. Then I had to get back to the house and get started on my to-do list. I hugged her goodbye and made my way up the stairs to the parking lot.
I was texting Jason. He’d just sung “Name” into my voicemail on the way to the airport. The song we had our first kiss to. I melted.
I was typing with my head down, telling him I loved him, so I didn’t notice my car until my feet were already crunching over glass. I looked up and froze with a hand to my mouth.
My windows were broken. All of my windows were broken.
My windshield was caved into the front seat like someone had stood directly on the hood to smash it in.
All four tires had been slashed. My side mirrors had been broken off and lay scattered in the parking lot like candy from a busted piñata.
And the words Jaxon’s Whore were spray painted over the door that didn’t match the rest of the car.
Chapter 33
Jason
♪ Do I Wanna Know? | Arctic Monkeys
The cameras in the parking lot were broken—but I fucking knew who did it.
Lola was pissed about being booted off my tour, about seeing me in the tabloids with another woman, and she’d gone after Sloan. I had no doubt in my mind it was her.
I was fucking furious. I’d called Ernie immediately after Sloan told me about her car and he’d gone down and gotten her. I’d almost flown back from New York, but both of them insisted I stay and do SNL. Ernie promised he’d keep her safe and deal with the police—and he did.
But the car wasn’t the end of it. Not even close.
Sloan’s social media accounts were suddenly bombarded with trolls. Fake accounts set up with no other purpose than to comment on her photos and slide into her DMs and harass her. It was so bad she had to delete her Instagram page and even Kristen and Josh had to lock down their accounts.
Then the phone calls started.
Vulgar texts and voicemails from strangers to Sloan’s cell, all hours of the night. It ran the gamut from calling her names to making threats of violence. And it was all made very obvious that this was about me. Jaxon’s whore, Jaxon’s bitch. None of it was traceable. All the numbers they called from were spoofed.
I had no idea how Lola had gotten Sloan’s number. But then I had no idea how Lola had gotten the gate code either.
It was like she’d hired a fucking army to come after my girlfriend.
I’d never felt so much hatred for someone in my life.
Ernie urged me not to confront her, that any engagement would just encourage her. He was right. There was no fucking point. It’s not like she listened to reason. All I could do was control the damage and try to keep Sloan safe.
I wasn’t taking any chances. We changed Sloan’s number and I wouldn’t let her off Ernie’s property alone or anywhere near her house. I’d hired a moving company to finish the packing, and I’d had Zane oversee it. We canceled the yard sale. I didn’t need Sloan outside dealing with strangers when there was someone out there who’d taken a baseball bat to her car.
The whole thing was a stress neither of us needed because our lives were hard enough as it was at the moment.
I’d been back from SNL for three days. My tour started in two. Everything was chaos. I’d had to dive right into rehearsals the day after I got back from New York, with the backup band I’d hired for the tour. I’d been working sixteen-hour days, juggling that and the media. I was being pulled in a thousand different directions and so was she.
And now Ernie had me up and waiting for him in front of the pool house at 6:30 in the damn morning. Sloan was asleep with Tucker in the trailer. I should have been asleep with Tucker in the trailer. But Ernie’s text had said it was important and that it couldn’t wait.
He came out the back door of the house and made his way past the pool. He was in his suit, even this early. “Hey, my friend. Sorry to rouse you. I know you need your beauty sleep.” He put his hands on his hips. “It’s important, or I wouldn’t have called.”
“What’s up?” I asked, yawning.
“Someone paid off my fucking housekeeper.”